Velopharyngeal Muscle Morphology in Children with Congenital Palatal Microforms Grant uri icon

abstract

  • The discrepancy in age of surgical intervention between children with cleft palate and those with palatal microforms elucidates the need for improved diagnostic methods for children with palatal microforms. Identification of muscular features that cause velopharyngeal (VP) dysfunction (VPD) in this population would dramatically improve clinical care by minimizing the risk of development of compensatory articulation errors, improving social outcomes, and decreasing overall healthcare costs. Although a variety of physical and functional findings related to congenital palatal microforms (e.g., submucous cleft palate) have been documented, there is no consensus on what features or combination of features lead to VPD. There is currently no method of determining whether palatal microforms will be symptomatic (i.e., obligatory hypernasality and/or nasal air emission) or asymptomatic (i.e., normal resonance) prior to the age of 3-4 years old when an adequate speech sample can be obtained. In children with overt cleft palate, primary surgery to close the open palatal cleft (primary palatoplasty) is typically completed between 9-12 months of age. In contrast, delayed diagnosis in children with palatal microforms results in delayed surgical intervention, thus increasing the risk of development of compensatory articulation errors and other aberrant speech, language, and social issues. Studies have shown that delayed (age 2 and higher) primary palatoplasty results in poorer speech outcomes.

date/time interval

  • July 2015 - June 2017